Roy Colsey III is driven. Whether he's driving the 800 miles every weekend to play indoor lacrosse for the New York Saints in the National Lacrosse League or bearing down on a goalkeeper on a breakaway, Colsey knows his way.

And he loves it.

He jumps in his 1992 Saab with his two pitbulls, Diesel and Tondra, and

drives from his home in Hanover, N.H, to his mother's house in Westchester. He

drops off the dogs and heads for Long Island to play for the Saints.

"It's a hectic pace but I don't mind at all," Colsey said. "The driving is

exhausting but I'm making more money playing for the Saints than I am teaching.

I'm living what most lacrosse kids can only dream about."

Colsey, 27, is the Saints' leading scorer for the second straight season.

He finished third in the NLL with 37 goals last season and is on pace to easily

top that total. He has 20 goals through the first five games for the Saints

(2-3), including six against Rochester in a 14-13 overtime loss Jan. 12.

"I didn't score more than 10 goals in my first two seasons in the league,"

said Colsey, who is in his fifth year. "It's difficult to learn how to finish

on offense in the box game. The goalies are bigger and the goal is smaller. You

have to learn how and when to fake to make your shots and put the ball away."

Colsey, who is 6-0, 205 pounds, said his goal is for the Saints to start to

put away some of their opponents and make the playoffs for the first time in

three years. They get a chance Saturday night when they play the two-time

defending champion Toronto Rock at 7:30 at Nassau Coliseum. The Saints will be

looking for Colsey, their most potent offensive weapon.

"Roy is as consistent a scorer as there is in this league," said Saints

coach Sal LoCascio. "He's a leader on the floor and the one player that the

other guys look for to score the big goal."

Colsey was an all-state player at Yorktown Heights High School in

Westchester and a four-time All-America midfielder at Syracuse. While at

Yorktown Heights, Colsey was instrumental in two wins over Garden City that led

to State Class B championships.

He also was selected to play for the Bridgeport team in the inaugural

season of Major League Lacrosse, which starts in May.

"What's really tough is that I want to live the rest of my life in [the New

England area]," said Colsey, who plans to move to Woodstock, Vt., in the near

future. "So the traveling is always going to be arduous. But I also want to

play lacrosse for the rest of my life."

Colsey makes the 15-minute drive from Hanover to his teaching job across

the Connecticut River at the Hartford Middle School in White River Junction,

Vt., where he teaches physical education in grades seven through nine.

"I enjoy teaching," said Colsey, who earned his masters in elementary

education from Mercy College. "When I get home Mondays after school I usually

go right to sleep."

He trains in the offseason with his father, Roy Colsey Jr., in North Salem,

N.Y., and enjoys snowboarding and golfing. But it's lacrosse that really

drives Colsey III, who wears No. 3 for obvious reasons.

"The long drive to my mom's is not so bad," Colsey said. "I can stop

anywhere for a rest and the dogs are fine with the back seat down. And I

definitely don't need a car alarm."

FLASH SALE

$1 FOR ONE YEAR

Unlimited Digital Access

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>Cancel anytime - new subscribers only